The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1887-04-16

Some time ago the general ex
ecutive board of the Knights of La
Dor bought the Baird mansion, No
814 North Broad street, Philadel
phia, for $4,000, for use as the
general headquarters and office o,
the order. 1t is a magnificent
building, and is furnished in the
most luxuriant style. The build.
ing and furniture originally cost
$4,000.
The general officers, including
Mr.. Powderly, have been denounced
in the most bitter terms by mem
bers of the organization as spend
thrifts, nabobs, swells and profes-
sional agitators since they bought
the building.
Mr.. Powderly feels very sore
about this, and he thinks that il
any one is to blame for buying the
building it is the Richmond general
assembly, which ordered the pur-
chase and voted $4,000 for that
purpose. In an address on the
question to the order at large Mr.
Powderly says:
"The general exective board
made arrangements to purchase a
suitable headquarters for the order
They did not act hastily, but made
careful inquiry as to where property
would be likely to sell the best in
case it became necessary to sell
again. The property of Mrs. Baird,
on Broad street, Philadelphia, was
offered for sale. We investigated
carefully and found that it was a
first-class property and was worth
$4,000. When it was purchased
costly articles of furniture and
household tixings which could not
be used elsewhere were thrown in
with the building and are now the
property of the order. We are sit
uated in a respectable, quiet part
of the city. Our neighbors, with
whom we will never have any deal
ings, are neither very rich nor very
poor, they are not nabobs, as has
been asserted by the demagogue ed
itors of some alleged labor papers.
There are no saloons near us, and
there never will be one if our inhu-
ence will be noticed. If the order
at any time wishes to dispose of
the property price far greater than
that which was given can be had
for it.
"The charge made that the gen.
eral executive board has squandered
the funds of the order i'm a reckless
purchase of a place among capital
lists and nabobs, etc, is silly when
it appears in paper published in
the interest of capital but when a
labor paper plays parrot and picks
up such cry and repeats it before
ascertaining whether it is true or
false it becomes criminal.
"Those who find the most fault
with us are men of anarchistic
tendencies. They are constantly
asserting that the palaces of the
rich belong to the poor, and when
the poor step in where capital goes
out they still keep up their whine
and attempt to stir up discord.
Nothing creates so much distrust
in a workingman's society as to
charge that the funds have been
misappropriated or squandered ;
and it was with the intention of
creating dissension that the howl
went up against the purchase of
the headquarters. Wew were ordered
to do it, and it was well done-it
was honestly done. ask where
an editor Of a paper who has pub
lished an attack on the general ex-
ecutive board for the purchase of
the headquarters belongs to the or
der he be allowed to appoint an in
vestigating committee to examine
the Philadelphia property, and if
he finds that / have made a mis-
statement he need not retract what
he has published if he finds that
he was wrong he must retract or
be expelled from the order. The
assemblies to which these men be-
long should act promptly in the
matter"
Mr.. Powderly says he is getting
tired of being abused and insulted
by members of the order. He
would not stand half SO much from